Istanbul closes museums, theaters in fight against COVID-19

Local authorities in Turkey's biggest city Istanbul decided to close museums, city theaters, and concert halls as of Friday in a move to curb the spread of COVID-19.

"We will update our precautions again at the end of March," Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul, said on a TV channel.

"The measures are related to places that are uncontrolled and crowded, hosting a high number of visitors," Imamoglu noted.

Numerous cultural centers across Istanbul's 39 districts are also among the closed venues, the municipality said at a press release published on its website.

Regarding the possible closure of all the entertainment venues in the city, the mayor said that his teams did not receive such an alarming report so far from officials.

Istanbul, with its 16 million residents, received over 14 million foreign visitors last year, becoming one of the most visited cities in the world.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Friday announced the second confirmed case of the coronavirus in the country.